St Cuthbert Mayne Church, Launceston Castle, Launceston Priory

An ecumenical group from local churches has held a pilgrimage walk through the town, ending with a prayer service at the ruins of its priory, which is on the King Arthur Way

Highlights

• St Cuthbert Mayne’s relic and site of martyrdom
• Site of George Fox’s imprisonment
• Launceston Priory ruins

The Catholic church in Launceston holds a relic of the priest St Cuthbert Mayne, who was martyred in the town in 1577. The church is half a mile north of the town centre and is designated as the saint’s national shrine, although usually locked outside service times. You can however easily visit the scene of his imprisonment and martyrdom on the grounds of Launceston Castle. A plaque on the castle’s north gate commemorates the saint’s execution for treason, on November 29. He was originally from Devon but went to France to study for the Catholic priesthood at Douai. He returned to work undercover in Cornwall but was discovered the following year and put on trial in September 1577, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. He was convicted of high treason and sentenced to be hung, drawn and quartered. Being Catholic was considered automatically treasonous because it denied the monarch’s ecclesiastical authority.

St Cuthbert Mayne was imprisoned in Launceston Castle’s dungeon, chained to his bed in solitary confinement. Two nights before his execution, according to other prisoners, his cell was flooded with a mysterious light. On the morning of his execution in the town marketplace, he was offered a chance to recant. “The queen neither ever was, nor is, nor ever shall be, the head of the church of England,” came his reply. He was dead or unconscious by the time they lowered him from the gibbet to begin the disembowelling. He was recognised as a saint on 25 October 1970, one of the Forty Catholic Martyrs of England and Wales. Several relics of the saint survive, including the one in Launceston’s Catholic church. 

By coincidence, another significant church leader was imprisoned in Launceston Castle in the 17th century. George Fox, founder of the Quakers, was locked up here for eight months in 1656. The Quakers are at the other end of the spectrum from the Catholic church in many respects. English religious persecution was nothing if not even-handed. George Fox did at least die a natural death at the age of 66, living freely in London. St Cuthbert Mayne was 29 when he was killed. 

When in Launceston you can visit the ruins of the town’s priory, which was destroyed at the Dissolution. It is around the back of St Thomas’ parish church, about halfway between the castle and the Catholic church. The site of the priory was lost for several centuries but rediscovered during building work in 1886. Only a small portion survives, now in a walled enclosure accessible from the churchyard. Church services have been held amid the ruins. The priory was dedicated to St Stephen, the first martyr of the Christian church (Acts 6–7).

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Directions

St Cuthbert Mayne Catholic Church, Mayne Close, St Stephen’s Hill, Launceston PL15 8XQ

www.stcuthbertmayne.org.uk

W3W: shaky.bluff.recapture

GPS: 50.6445N 4.3693W

Launceston Castle, Western Road, Launceston PL15 7DR

W3W: recently.fund.skies

GPS: 50.6376N 4.3614W

Launceston Priory, behind St Thomas Parish Church, Riverside, Launceston PL15 8DH

www.launcestonpriory.org.uk

W3W: waltzed.fired.woof

GPS: 50.6408N 4.3658W

The Catholic church is on the north side of town in an area called St Stephens. Drive north along the A388 from Launceston town centre and go straight on at the roundabout after crossing the river, up St Stephen’s Hill. The church is on the left after 350m.

Launceston Castle is in the centre of town. Enter the castle grounds from the main gate on Western Road. You need to pay to visit the castle itself, where St Cuthbert Mayne was imprisoned, but the plaque is on the grounds next to the North Gate. Just walk straight ahead along the path from the main entrance and you will come to this gate; the plaque is on the left.

Launceston Priory is in a small walled garden at the back of the St Thomas parish church graveyard, on the left as you walk around the church building. It is usually open, with no fee to enter.